Archive: May 2006
Virgin Blue responds
Virgin Blue defends wheelchair policy:
Virgin Blue chief executive Brett Godfrey said the airline was not implementing a new policy for disabled passengers.
But he reaffirmed the airline’s policy that passengers unable to fit themselves with an oxygen mask or look after themselves on board should travel with carers.
…
Mr Godfrey said his staff would continue to assist [...]
More on Virgin Blue
Airline to wheelchair users: pay a carer
Paralympics medalist Paul Munnari, who has propelled himself thousands of kilometres, said airline staff had told him he would have to be accompanied by a carer.
The airline’s spokeswoman, Heather Jeffery, last night said the airline had produced a more detailed policy on special needs passengers or “guests”, to take [...]
Accessible Landscape Design
I’m currently obsessing about creating an accessible landscape design for our property. Found so far:
Fun and Leisure: Home Enabling Garden, from NCPAD
ACCESSIBLE GARDENING: Bring Mother Earth Within Reach, from MDA
I’m trying to find resources which avoid tokenism: rather than “here’s how to build a table-top garden”, or “horticulture as therapy”, I want access to the [...]
Don’t try to evade me
Check out Wheelchair Dancer’s Sidewalk Etiquette Tips for Walkies.
Numbers 2 & 3 are my favorites. Seriously, moms, do you think I’m not going to miss your wandering child? This isn’t pedestrian pinball.
More hotels
Christiane is also posting about hotel accessibility:
How Accessible is our Hotel?
I travel a great deal, and so I’ve been to a lot of hotels, all over the world. I know that “accessible hotel room” doesn’t necessarily mean accessible hotel room. Even though there’s a DIN for accessible construction, the devil is in the details.
At Podcastday [...]
Virgin Blue staff will not push wheelchairs
Virgin stands by wheelchair decision
Virgin Blue is defending its new policy on wheelchair passengers, saying it is necessary to protect airline staff from injuries.
From June 1, Virgin Blue staff will not be allowed to push wheelchairs, leaving passengers to operate mandatory airline wheelchairs themselves.
David Craig from Disability Rights Victoria says the policy is part of [...]
EU Policy: Rights of Disabled Persons … When Travelling by Air
Via Rolling Rains, the full English text of the newly ratified EU regulation.
Ratified but not yet published below is the English version of the EU regulations on travel and people with disabilities. The text will be signed June 14 and two weeks later.
The regulation will take effect two years after the publication in the official [...]
Wheelchair Advantage
I was down on Pearl Street Mall the other day for some reason that is currently escaping me, and decided to get some extra exercise. Now Pearl Street Mall is prime accosting territory - between the panhandlers and the environmental petition pushers, you can barely get through a single block without being confronted by your [...]
Hotels, et al
A lot of posting about hotels and what not going on:
Agent Fang on service versus access
Reality Check Woman on Coffee for Crips (I have to say that one of the great things about Albuquerque is the Starbucks drive-in on Gibson, just east of San Mateo - why don’t we have a Starbucks drive-in anywhere? This [...]
New on the Blogroll
Wheelchair Dancer
Disabilityblog.info
Parents with Disabilities
Claire Phipps
Mercedes-Benz museum
Neat! Time for a trip to Stuttgart:
The seven Legend rooms, which guide visitors through the history of the automobile and its times in chronological order, are linked by an around 80-metre long, smooth ramp. This is designed to be equally convenient for the handicapped, with numerous imperceptible transitions to level sections so that wheelchair users [...]
Scofflaws reformed?
Has Gebhardt BMW reformed?
It’s been about a month since I’ve seen a dealership car illegally parked in a handicapped permit spot at Gebhardt. Could the dealership possibly have decided to obey the law?
They do seem to be storing an orange traffic cone in one of the spots, though.
The writing badness that is Dan Brown
My children gave me Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons for Mother’s Day, by way of a gag gift. They also gave me a red pen to mark it up with.
I couldn’t possibly do any better than Language Log, though:
The Dan Brown Code
Dan Brown Still Moving Very Briskly About
Renowned author Dan Brown staggered through his formulaic [...]
Wheelchair Friendly Homes Nearing Completion
Wheelchair Friendly Homes Nearing Completion, from the Chatanoogan.
Interesting what qualifies as “wheelchair accessible”. Notice that this home has what looks like 5-6 steps to the front entrance. Apparently the accessible entrance is hidden in the garage. This hiding of accessibility features stands in contrast to the renovation of Lake Park Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, where [...]
Airline Special Service Request (SSR) Codes
5.2.2.1 In order better to adapt services supplied to the needs of PRMs, Member States should encourage airlines, airport authorities and travel agents to use a common definition of different categories of persons needing special assistance. To that end, Member States should refer to the following classification and codification:
1) MEDA Passenger whose mobility is impaired, [...]
This week’s fun
I was in Albuquerque this week. Here’s some random stuff that happened:
Called the hotel Sunday to make sure I had an accessible room. No, I was advised brightly, but I had been booked into a *suite*! I was clearly supposed to be excited about this, but I figured that being able to take a shower [...]
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